The strange knock on effect of COVID...

There has been a very strange knock on effect from the COVID epidemic and the actions that, whether you agree or not, have been put in place. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/24/us/cdc-coronavirus-rats.html

Right now where I work we are seeing these same effects. Rats are out in force. As it is they are also gathering in areas where food is still available. 

You would be forgiven for thinking that there was no lockdown in effect in my small part of the UK if you were to look at how full our bins are and how bad the mess is in our parks, car parks and streets. 

Rubbish and food wrappers are still widely evident where people are meeting up, mainly teenagers. The bins are still full every day and litter still lines our streets. 

Another issue that has come to our attention is the fact that so many people are "Feeding the birds" in our parks with bread and whatnot and just walking away.

First off, feeding bread to birds is not a good idea. Next... You are not feeding the birds anymore, you are feeding the rats! Birds are not sticking around because the rats are attacking them to get to the food. 

No matter what we tell the public, they will not learn. It's getting so bad the council are looking to propose some kind of restriction on feeding the birds in public spaces (Private is still OK).

We are seeing multiple rats in daylight. If you are seeing rats in daylight you have problems because either they are bold or desperate... And a desperate rat will attack. 

We have seen reports of rats being aggressive to other animals as they start to starve, thankfully though the rats seem to want to mainly move on to new areas where food is available. Hopefully we don't see them attack people. 

This is where we get to me... 
Parks are becoming areas where rats are growing in numbers. Especially if it's near take-aways, which are still open, because people are eating food in the parks. 

We don't want to move people on, but we also don't want them putting food remains in the bins, the rats are just raiding them. Not a week goes by when I am seeing rats coming out of bins. We have to bang the bin with a stick, yes, we have started carrying sticks now, BEFORE we open them because it scares them and they run out before we get too close. 

The idea of catching something nasty from a rat bite does NOT fill me with fluffy feelings! My stance on carrying guns while at work has also changed!

So, please... If you visit a park or indeed ANYWHERE now, please not not leave your food waste in bins, take it home and dispose of it there. Household bins, wheelie bins, are much better built to deter rats than park bins are. 

Thank you!
Regards, 
The poor bugger who has to empty the bins and occasionally fight with rats. B-)

#Rats #Animals #COVID #Problems #UrbanLife